This invention relates to computerized travel planning systems.
Travel planning systems are used to produce itineraries and prices by selecting suitable travel units from databases containing geographic, scheduling and pricing information. In the airline industry, fundamental travel units include xe2x80x9cflightsxe2x80x9d (sequences of regularly scheduled takeoffs and landings assigned a common identifier) and xe2x80x9cfaresxe2x80x9d (prices published by airlines for travel between two points). The term xe2x80x9citineraryxe2x80x9d is often used to refer to a sequence of flights on particular dates, and the term xe2x80x9cpricing solutionxe2x80x9d is often used to refer to a combination of fares and itineraries that satisfies a travel request.
The databases usually contain schedule information provided by airlines, typically in the so-called Standard Schedules Information Manual (SSIM) format, and usually fares published by airlines and resellers, typically provided through the intermediary Airline Tariff Publishing Company(copyright) (ATPCO). The database may also contain xe2x80x9cavailabilityxe2x80x9d information that determines whether space is available on flights, or this may be obtained through communication links to external sources such as airlines.
Presently, so-called computer reservation system (CRSs) operate to produce fare and schedule information. There are four generally known computer reservation systems that operate in the United States, Sabre(copyright), Galileo(copyright), Amadeus(copyright) and WorldSpan(copyright). The typical CRS contains a periodically updated central database that is accessed by subscribers such as travel agents through computer terminals. The subscribers use the computer reservation system to determine what airline flights are operating in a given market, what fares are offered and whether seats are available on flights to make bookings and issue tickets to clients.
The computer reservation systems typically conduct searches using the information contained in the database to produce itineraries that satisfy a received request. The search results are sorted and returned to the requester s computer for display. Typically, the number of possible itineraries and pricing solutions that are returned by a CRS is a small portion of the total set that may satisfy a passengers request.
According to an aspect of the invention, a method of validating fares in a travel planning system includes retrieving a fare rule for a fare, applying the rule to an itinerary to determine if the fare can be used with the itinerary; and storing results of applying the rule.
According to an additional aspect of the invention, a method for retrieving rules over multiple travel dates includes retrieving rules from a rules database that divides rules according to sets of records having travel dates and finding a first record from the sets of records that is matched to a current fare. The method also includes storing a result of applying the matched record and storing a latest travel date for which the result remains valid and determining for subsequent travel dates whether the subsequent travel date falls within a bound defined by the stored date.
According to a further aspect of the invention, a method of validating faring atoms for an airline travel planning system includes retrieving a faring atom and determining whether a previous result of applying a current rule is stored and if the previous result is stored, returning the previous result stored for the current rule.
According to a still further aspect of the invention, a computer program product residing on a computer readable medium for validating faring atoms, for inclusion in a pricing solution of a travel planning system, includes instructions for causing a computer to retrieve rules from a rules database that divides rules according to hierarchical sets of records, search each hierarchical set of records for a first record from the hierarchical sets of records that matches a current faring atom and store matched records and a latest date for which a result of applying the matched record remains valid. The program also includes instructions to cause the computer to determine for a subsequent travel date of the faring atom whether the subsequent travel date of the faring atom falls within a bound defined by the stored travel date; and if the subsequent travel date does fall within the bound of the stored date and use a rule corresponding to the stored travel date to validate the faring atom.
According to a still further aspect of the invention, a travel planning system, includes a computer and a computer readable medium. The computer readable includes a computer program product residing on the computer readable medium for validating faring atoms, for inclusion in a pricing solution provided by the travel planning system and includes instructions for causing to retrieve rules from a rules database that divides rules according to hierarchical sets of records, search the hierarchical set of records for a first record from the hierarchical set of records that matches a current faring atom, store matched records and a latest travel date for which a result of applying the matched record remains valid and determine for a subsequent travel date of the faring atom whether the subsequent date falls within a bound defined by the stored travel date; and if the subsequent date does fall within the bound of the stored date, use a stored result corresponding to the stored travel date to validate the faring atom.